0000000000124075

AUTHOR

A. Douillet

Accumulation of positrons from a LINAC based source

International audience; The GBAR experiment aims to measure the gravitational acceleration of antihydrogen H̅. It will use H̅+ ions formed by the interaction of antiprotons with a dense positronium cloud, which will require about 1010 positrons to produce one H̅+. We present the first results on the positron accumulation, reaching 3.8±0.4×108 e+ collected in 560 s.

research product

A pulsed high-voltage decelerator system to deliver low-energy antiprotons

International audience; The GBAR (Gravitational Behavior of Antihydrogen at Rest) experiment at CERN requires efficient deceleration of 100 keV antiprotons provided by the new ELENA synchrotron ring to synthesize antihydrogen. This is accomplished using electrostatic deceleration optics and a drift tube that is designed to switch from -99 kV to ground when the antiproton bunch is inside – essentially a charged particle “elevator” – producing a 1 keV pulse. We describe the simulation, design, construction and successful testing of the decelerator device at -92 kV on-line with antiprotons from ELENA.

research product

Towards a test of the weak equivalence principle of gravity using anti-hydrogen at CERN

International audience; The aim of the GBAR (Gravitational Behavior of Antimatter at Rest) experiment is to measure the free fall acceleration of an antihydrogen atom, in the terrestrial gravitational field at CERN and therefore test the Weak Equivalence Principle with antimatter. The aim is to measure the local gravity with a 1% uncertainty which can be reduced to few parts of 10-3.

research product

Positron production using a 9 MeV electron linac for the GBAR experiment

For the GBAR (Gravitational Behaviour of Antihydrogen at Rest) experiment at CERN's Antiproton Decelerator (AD) facility we have constructed a source of slow positrons, which uses a low-energy electron linear accelerator (linac). The driver linac produces electrons of 9 MeV kinetic energy that create positrons from bremsstrahlung-induced pair production. Staying below 10 MeV ensures no persistent radioactive activation in the target zone and that the radiation level outside the biological shield is safe for public access. An annealed tungsten-mesh assembly placed directly behind the target acts as a positron moderator. The system produces $5\times10^7$ slow positrons per second, a performan…

research product

Les maladies du bois de la vigne : recherches pour apporter des solutions de lutte aux Professionnels

Les travaux réalisés sur deux maladies du bois de la vigne (esca, BDA) ont montré leur effet sur la récolte et la croissance de la pousse printanière qui était annulé deux années après l’apparition des symptômes. Ces maladies ont aussi conduit à des modifications des propriétés analytiques des moûts et des vins. Les vins issus de raisins collectés sur des ceps symptomatiques n’étaient pas toujours les plus dépréciés. Les études effectuées sur le cycle biologique ont permis de mettre au point des outils pour différencier les individus de deux espèces de Botryosphaeriaceae et des outils d’hybridation in situ qui permettront de les localiser précisément dans les tissus. Elles ont aussi identif…

research product

Preparing single ultra-cold antihydrogen atoms for free-fall in GBAR

We discuss an experimental approach allowing to prepare antihydrogen atoms for the GBAR experiment. We study the feasibility of all necessary experimental steps: The capture of incoming $\bar{\rm H}^{+}$ ions at keV energies in a deep linear RF trap, sympathetic cooling by laser cooled Be+ ions, transfer to a miniaturized trap and Raman sideband cooling of an ion pair to the motional ground state, and further reducing the momentum of the wavepacket by adiabatic opening of the trap. For each step, we point out the experimental challenges and discuss the efficiency and characteristic times, showing that capture and cooling are possible within a few seconds. We discuss an experimental approach…

research product